Personality and Learning Motivation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.5, No.10, 2013 Personality and Learning Motivation Dorothea Wahyu Ariani Department of Management, Economic Faculty-Atma Jaya Yogyakarta University Jl. Babarsari No. 43 Yogyakarta, Indonesia - 55281 Tel: +62 274 487711 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In this study I investigated the relationship between personality traits and learning motivations by correlating Big Five model of personality, Core Self-evaluation, achievement and affiliation motivation, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for leaning. Data were collected from 298 participants using a questionnaire. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience and conscientiousness were positively associated with intrinsic motivation, but neuroticism was positively associated with extrinsic motivation. Core self-evaluation was also positively related with intrinsic motivation and negatively related to extrinsic motivation. Furthermore, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are two concept that was mutually exclusive. Implications and further research directions are then discussed. Keywords: five-factor model, core self-evaluation, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivations 1. Introduction Numerous researchers have indicated that personality is one of the most important determinants of human behavior and work motivation. One of the main views of organizational research has been that personality (dispositional) factors and situational factors are determinant of human behavior (Erez, 1997). In other words, situation and disposition are equally important variables. Dispositional factors (e.g. personalities) have a role of determining motivation (and performance). Personality traits may be a sense of motivation, as personality is considered to be a crucial factor in various contexts (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Teng, Huang, & Tsai, 2007; Huang & Yang, 2010). In this study, I investigated links between individual personality attributes and motivation to perform tasks and performance. One’s motivation toward tasks is an indication of desire and willingness to exert effort to higher performance. Research on personality in organization has been increasing rapidly in areas dealing with work motivation and various types of performance. Historically, attempt to relate personality traits to motivation have been disappointing. Personality traits are unrelated to specific motivated actions, and when relationship is found, it is usually not very strong. The fundamental problem in the research on dispositional effects on motivation and behavior stem from the prevailing lack of unified theoretical perspective for understanding which dispositional constructs influence the motivational stem and how they operate (Weiss & Adler, 1984). Disposition is a variable of interest includes an individual’s personality, which is made up of traits, affective, mood, structure, and value (Naquin & Holton, 2002). Despite the limited number of such studies in human resource development, dispositional research has led to the conclusion that there is a conceptual relationship between disposition and behavior. How persons behave is a function of consistent individual differences in their personality, but it is also a function of the situation in which they find themselves. They are influenced by their own personality characteristics and they are influenced by situations. Previous research has demonstrated that motivation to learn can be influenced by both person and situation variables (Colquitt, LePine, & Noe, 2000). When organizational support or situation variable support for learning process are strong, personality variables may be less important than when situational support are weak (Major, Turner, & Fletcher, 2006). Numerous researchers have indicated that personality is one of the most important determinants of human behavior and work motivation. Personality traits may be a source of motivation. Personality considered being a crucial factor in various contexts (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Huang & Yang, 2010). Personality trait is predictor of attitudes, motivation, and leadership, but central focus of that research is usually attitudes, motivation, and leadership, not personality. Historically, personality research on organizational behavior has suffered from inadequate conceptual development and poor methodology, and these factors have conspired to give personality a bad name (Weiss & Adler, 1984). Much of the personality research is not systematically derived 26 European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.5, No.10, 2013 from theory. Research has demonstrated that attempts to empirically link personality characteristics to motivational variables have produced inconsistent result (Furnham, Eracleous, & Premuzie, 2009). No clear guiding framework exists to show the relations between personality and motivation constructs. This study investigated how personality traits motivate learning that is how personality traits and learning motivations are linked. Additionally, to provide a more complete picture of how personality traits affect learning motivations, this study also attempted to determine which personality dimension predicts a person’s overall learning and which personality dimension predicts a person’s learning. Motivation to learn encompasses the desire to engage in learning process in campus. Motivation to learn consists of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Motivation toward learning process is an indication of desire and willingness exert effort toward all process of learning in campus. Personality variables are relatively more enduring, stable, individual characteristics that indicate general tendencies and predispositions (Major et al., 2006). Colquitt et al. (2000) found that several personality variables were related to motivation to learn. Several studies have shown positive correlations between intrinsic motivation and achievement motivation (Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005) suggesting that decline in intrinsic motivation may signify a decline in achievement motivation. Researchers have often operationalized these two constructs as mutually exclusive, such that an individual high in intrinsic motivation would necessarily be low in extrinsic motivation. Personality has emerged as being influential in various contexts (Barrick & Mount, 1991), which suggests that personality traits should be a source of motivation (Jeng & Teng, 2008). By determining the influence of personality traits on individual motivations to learn, one can examine what influences learning behavior. Using guidelines stated above, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between several personality variables and motivation. This study investigated the relationship between personality traits (the big five personality and the core self-evaluation) and learning motivations (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and achievement and affiliation motivation). In this study, we also investigated links between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation to learn using independent measures. These findings demonstrate the value of personality variables as predictors of motivation to learn and negative correlation between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation and between achievement motivation and affiliation motivation. 2. Literature Review and Hypotheses 2.1. Motivation In organizational research, work motivation has been the subject of more theories than any other topic. Organizational researchers see motivation as a fundamental building block in the development of effective theories (Steers, Mowday, & Shapiro, 2004). Understanding motivation is important for both academics and managers. Pinder (1998) defined motivation as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration. Motivation is a buzzword in virtually all work settings and educational institutions. Motivation is a force that directs specific behavioral alternatives which are suggested when individuals choose to behave in a certain way (Chiang & Jang, 2008). Motivation is drive to fulfill a need. Numerous researches have suggested that personality impacts performance through its effect on various motivational variables (Gellatly, 1996; Judge & Ilies, 2002). Motivation is a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond and individual’s being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration (Steers & Porter, 1991; Vroom, 1964; Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, 1981; Pinder, 1984). There so many definitions of different aspects of motivation. Some writers view motivation from a strictly physiological perspective, while others view human beings as primarily hedonistic, and explain most of human behavior as goal-oriented, seeking to gain pleasure and avoid pain (Pinder, 1998). Motivation will manifest itself through effort. Concept of effort and motivation frequently treated as identical and can change each other. In other word, effort is used as an operationalization of motivation. Motivation, as a process, includes a series of assessment such as whether or not to engage in a behavior, how much effort to exert, and how to regulate behavior once a person decides to engage in the chosen task. Motivation is the force that arouses enthusiasm and persistence to prove a certain